so here in lampa

so i wanted to update all how things are going here in lampa. after mid summer debriefing i was left the cmt team... although i hated it, and joined the lampa team. the first week we got here we did some rearranging of the schedule started trying to focus on getting the church that was once here rebuilt. it has been a very frustrating endeavor. the ppl who were once the church leaders have basically quit on us and we were getting very discouraged. but God has opened up a few new doors for us. during the strike... lampa was protesting and we decided to go out and watch because all the little villages on the out skirts had all came in to lampa for the protest. a young girl maybe in her 20´s decided to come talk to us. 3 male greengos... this is very rare. she asked if we could teach her english... and we were like SURE!!! so we talked for a while an now we have a class set up meeting twice a week to teach english for anyone and we are going to follow suit with what others in the reap south team are doing. we will be teaching english through bible stories. this has given us new life in lampa so please continue to pray for us. also... pray for our bikes. we have been biking out to the other villages which are about 10 miles away and without fail out chains and seats have broken every time. thus missing our scheduled time to be there and missing oppurtunities. then we have to walk 10 miles back to lampa which hasnt been fun.

also i put a link up which is a link to the international mission board´s article on greg gomez. we miss him but wouldnt take away what he has now for anything. if that link doesnt work you can go to www.imb.org and i am sure you will find it there. or you could go to google and type in greg gomez peru... there are already countless christian sites that have posted articles already. be sure to keep his family and friends in prayer.

until next time
eric

Cora Cora

Our hearts broke yesterday when we found that one of our team members, Greg Gomez passed away. The Research Team was traveling near Cusco when the van they were in lost control and Greg had a fatal head injury. The two girls on the team, Claudia and Lydia, were ok and are being treated in a hospital in Lima right now. When we first heard the news, we couldn´t believe it. We had just seen Greg a few days ago in Nazca. I can´t begin to imagine how his family is feeling; we have been praying for them every day. We know the accident was part of God´s perfect and pleasing will. I have been reminded of the urgency that we have to share the gospel with everyone on earth. Our team is doing our job here with more fervor than we had before. I just hope that God is glorified so so much through all of this, because Greg´s life is completely invaluable.

After we heard the news yesterday, we went to an orphanage to share with the kids. It was hard, but we had to keep trucking on. Those kids were awesome. A couple 14-year-old chicas wanted us to dance to some cumbia and reggaeton with them. It was pretty hilarious. :) Today we had a great time sharing the gospel in a technical college. Later today we are having a bible study in our hostel with some kids we met there. God spoke to their hearts today and it is to exciting to be a part of that!

My lovely darling Beth had to leave us today. She had to go home to Georgia to start her first teaching job as a first grade teacher. We are going to miss her so much! She speaks very little spanish, but she would always put herself out there and talk to everyone she came in contact with. That Bajita challened all of us who speak spanish to get out there and do our thing. :)

Please pray for Beth and Elsa, an interpreter as they travel. Pray for Eric, who left our team to minister in Lampa. He is a great discipler, and we know he is doing awesome stuff with the people there. Please pray for everyone who made decisions for Christ, that they would live out their decisions and grow in Christ.

I hope everyone is doing good! We are trying to stay warm here in Cora Cora. I come home in 28 days. I love you all and I will see you soon!

Love Jess
Jeremiah 20:9

Onward to Cora Cora!

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to give an update on where we are! We have just spent 4 days in Bella Union visiting a Preschool, a elementary school, house Bible studies, a college, and and the Plaza during the evenings. I loved hanging with the younger children and doing acting out Bible stories as well as singing songs! Precious! Presenting Lifehouse, some songs, a testimony, and the Gospel at the college to a group of about 25 students was amazing as well! I felt many of us could relate to where the students were in life and fellowship was powerful. About 19 gave their life to Christ! It was moving to see their faces and pray for the hearts as God worked through His truth! We had a great time hanging out with the teenagers and children in the plaza during the evenings too! It was a work out! Too because that was probably the longest village ever! hehe It stretched down a strip of road versus around the plaza. It was amazing to see how many people were receptive to Bible studies there. The village team was doing a great job keeping them moving having about 3 home studies per day! Amazing the doors that God is opening there! We are currently in transit to Cora Cora. We board the bus tonight at 9! Please pray for safe travel on that note! We are excited to meet the team there! By the way, I am excited that God has given me another week later to stay with the team in Peru! I will be home on the 10th now for my new job teaching. Also, God has made it possible for Eric to be on the Lampa village team after much prayer in his decision by everyone! We miss him very much but we are confident that God has placed him there to meet a need!
Katherine says ´´Eat more chicken´´ lol

Love you all! I hope ya´ll had a great Independence Day!
Beth

Praise da LERD!!!!!

Hola,

Just wanted to shout a holler at cha!!!!! We are currently in a village called Caraveli... This village is by far my favorite... I really have a heart for this place for a few reasons... First, this area has a ton of teenagers... We got to do a presentation in the high school in front like 350 students... I really enjoyed that... We were not allowed to give an invitation but the principal said I could share whatever I wanted with the students... We presented a couple of songs... they really liked them.... we sang, ¨La unica razon¨, The only reason... and ¨Esas Montanas¨ Those Mountains...

Then we presented a skit that goes along with the lifehouse song ¨Everything¨ This skit shows many of the tempatations teenagers face in life... It is really powerful....

After this skit we presented the Gospel... The students were sooo attentive!!!! I really have a heart for this age group of people because of the decisions my friends and I made in High School... I pray that these students would search for the meaning of life through Christ and not in alchohol, drugs, and sex...

Here is the skit in Spanish Drama "Mi Todo" (Lifehouse's "Everything" Skit)

Here it is in English Next Level Lifehouse Everything Skit

Thank you all sooo much for your prayers... I really appreciate you all... Keep my team in your prayers as we travel today to Atico from Caraveli... we will stay in Atico until Saturday morning and then we will be in Nazca for our mid summer debriefing.... this is just a time of rest and relaxation in which we can chill and hang out with all the other summer missionaries... I am going to go visit the lines of Nazca from an airplane possibly... I am also going to travel to Ica during this time and go Sand bording on some of the world´s largeste sand dunes... Pray for me!!! LOL... Miss you all!!!

Until All Have Heard
Psalm 34. 4
Tommy Leach

blessed hands

so we are currently in caraveli. we arrived yesterday on a very bumpy ride through the andes mountains. for all the worried moms we made it fine. we are currently between ica and arequipa. we will be here for one more day then we are goin to ica on another bumpy ride to do ministry in ica. after we will be in nasca where we will get some rest and have great fellowship with all the other missionaries. today we went to a school where we did our normal song and dance... literally. we had a great time, the kids were really receptive. after we did our thing, you would have thought we were celebrities. the kids broke out pen and paper and wanted our autographs. some of us put smily faces, some of us put our names, and others just put "Jesus Christ loves you." i was sitting there writing hundreds of times "Jesus Christ loves you" hoping they would figure it out in english. (i was trying to encourage them to learn as well ya know.) there were so many kids around me shoving and wanting to be next i could hardly seem the daylight. for what seemed like forever all i saw was my knee, a pen and piece of paper on my knee, and little peruvian hands. i was just like wow... this really brings truth to the verse where Jesus speaks about the workers being few. i started praying.... Lord bless that hand... Lord bless that hand... Lord bless that hand. there are so many kids... so many people... the need is out there. the fields are ready but we dont have enough workers. when people back home ask me... "how was it?" i am goin to tell them to go see for themselves. one words cannot capture it and two the need is great. please continue to pray for us. we are approaching mid summer de-briefing then we are goin to get kicked in the pantalones!!! the second half of our summer is goin to be alot harder... if you havent been praying for us, please start and if you have, pray harder. we love you all thanks for all the encouragement.

eric
p.s. i really like spanish keyboards because i can do this !¡!¡?¿?¿çççç just look at all those different characters!!!

so... i didnt know what to title this

well we are in arequipa being american. we go to caraveli on monday. so far it has been a great summer. we have had plenty of oppurtunities to share the gospel and more importantly glorify God while in peru. lampa was great but i feel that there is a great need there. there are 2 village missionaries there named j0rge and austin. the guys are awesome but they are in serious need of help. there church has been sending missionaries to lampa for a while but everytime they leave the church there stops meeting. they are in need of ppl to pray and help physically in lampa to disciple the men and women there in lampa. our goal is not to start a satelite church anywhere but i a church that can be ran by the ppl in that village. once that happens then they can go out to there on ppl and share Christ... which is much more effective. i ask that everyone please lift these two guys up. they are both 18 or 19 and they have shown tremendous courage and boldness in spreading the gospel. please continue to pray for us as we share the gospel. please pray that the Holy Spirit may go before us. we thank you mommas for prayin for us and letting us come... haha.

until next time
eric

Pictures & Stuff

Here is a team pic... From left to right: Tommy Leach, Eric Jones, Nick Blackmon, Derek Pirtle (standing), Ahna Buckwalter (semi squatting), Kathryn Oder, Beth McCarthy, Jessica Stephenson (seated)...









This is in Orurillo the night before we got to eat guinea pig!!!!












Desfila - Parade in Orurillo













In Chupa with a family that opens up thier home for bible studies...












In the stadium in Chupa... we would gather the kiddos up and sing songs and tell bible stories and testimonies...











Sunset over Lake Titicaca... We spent the night on an Island there...












The squirells in traditional Quetchua women garb...












Eri-Eri-Eric Jones!!!! Jumping over the fire in his QuechuaMAN outfit!!!!












This is Julio... He is the director of Awanas in Peru... He is a hilarious man of God!!!!












Freddy and Ida... The hostel workers niece and nephew at Hospedaje Milam in Lampa...